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Kenjon Barner shocked the NFL world in New Orleans before Super Bowl XLVII by teaming up with Florida State quarterback E.J. Manuel and Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson to win the 2013 Madden Bowl. It was the first time a team of pre-NFL Draft rookies won the annual competition. They beat NFL rookies Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin, Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green and Cleveland Browns running back Trent Richardson playing Madden NFL 13.

Barner was able to preview the new EA Sports NCAA Football 14 game at EA Tiburon before the game’s summer release. As one of the top running backs entering the 2013 NFL Draft in New York, Barner is gearing up for his own NFL career. He’s riding a high having won the 2013 Fiesta Bowl on the gridiron before taking the video game championship in NOLA. Barner talks about the new college football game in this exclusive interview.

Are you still happy about that Madden Bowl victory?

Oh, man. I haven’t let it go since.

What are your thoughts on the EA Sports NCAA Football 14 game?

For me, as a running back, it’s definitely the true footing that they put into the game. Being able to plant your feet and run a route, rather than that kind of rounding route that players took in years past. For me, that’s probably the biggest thing; definitely that planning, the foot planning.

Could you give us a sense of how popular this game is at Oregon?

I don’t think popular is the word to describe this game. Every college football player plays it. Every college basketball player plays it. Every student plays it. There are tournaments. There’s everything involved with this game that you can think of that goes on on the campus, so “popular” I don’t think is the word to use for NCAA Football.

The college basketball guys have to, right, because they don’t have their own basketball video game anymore?

Right, so they’re always into the Madden, the NCAA and the 2Ks, but NCAA is definitely one of the most played games, I know out of Oregon, for sure.

You’ve already proved that you know how to play Madden in New Orleans this year. How good are you when it comes to NCAA Football video games?

The thing about that, I surprised myself in Madden. Prior to that, everybody was asking me, “How good are you?” I’m like, “We’ll find out.” NCAA, I’m pretty decent. I’ve played that quite a few times, so I’m pretty solid in that game.

When it comes to NCAA Football, what’s it like now that you’ve left school to be able to relive it virtually through this video game?

It’s amazing, and we’re lucky to have that, because now we can go back and like you said, relive what we went through in college. To have this game and be able to go back and play as your team, as yourself, and what have you, it’s definitely something that I definitely look forward to being able to do.

The NCAA Football franchise has focused on the college atmosphere. What is it that stands out from your university when you step out on the field that you don’t get from other stadiums?

For me, it’s the run out. Our run out in real life translates exactly to the video game show; from us coming down the tunnel slapping the sign, from the mascot Puddles being on the back of the motorcycle, and the motorcycle leading us out between the cheerleaders. They’ve got that down to a tee. To have that tradition in the video game is pretty special.

We’ve seen over the last couple of years EA really add something unique to Madden with the handheld cameras, and that’s something that they’re adding this year to NCAA Football 14. What are your thoughts on the TV style presentation?

It’s probably one of the better attributes of the game, being able to have almost like that real life feeling, to feel like you’re actually in the game and being able to play. We’re not able to play as the single player, so that’s huge in this game, huge.